


The Offer

by cxr



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Noir, Singapore
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-13
Updated: 2015-09-13
Packaged: 2018-04-20 14:47:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4791287
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cxr/pseuds/cxr
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Singapore's hero, the incorruptible general, has sworn that Singapore will not fall under his watch. Late one night, a stranger arrives with an offer.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Offer

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt: How might the noir genre work when transplanted to Singapore’s shiny shores?

It is late at night in the underground Gombak headquarters when a black cloud drifts under your door and begins to form a human shape. The Security and Intelligence division under you has done its job well, so you are able to name the intruder before it completes its transformation.

“The Mind.” You’ve known it was only a matter of time before the supervillian chief set his sights on Singapore.

The cloud of smoke forms a black cape and whirls around the figure’s head to form a pointed hat that flops slightly to one side. The brim of the hat obscures most of its owner’s face.

“Good evening, General,” the intruder says with a slight bow. “I see the claims of your talent have not been exaggerated.”

“Cut the crap,” you snap. “What do you want?”

“I’m afraid you’ve taken my question, General,” the Mind chuckles. “What do you want?”

“Do you imagine I can be bribed?” You are above such common weaknesses. Money is not important to you, and upon your retirement from the armed forces, you will be transferred to a highly paid job in the civil service or a statutory board. Sexual urges may have toppled many high flyers before you, but you have conquered that with the libido suppressant serum. Singapore will not fall under your watch, and that is that.

“Oh no, your record is flawless,” the Mind replies. “Singapore Armed Forces Overseas Merit Scholar, graduating summa cum laude from Princeton, and rising straight through the ranks to become the first general in Singapore’s military history…”

“But General,” says the Mind, looking directly into your eyes. “When was the last time you truly felt alive?”

Caught by surprise, you have no ready answer, and can only watch in silence as the Mind vanishes into the void. The question, however, remains.

That night, you dream of fireworks.

It's from the year you attended the Princeton reunion fireworks.

You'd expected to be entertained but not impressed. It's just chemistry and flashing light and loud sounds, and you've heard that at countdowns and Chinese New Year celebrations and National Day parades. You were there on the picnic mat, chatting with friends until someone glanced at her watch and announced that it was about to start.

It was dark except for the lights at the far edges of the stadium. In that moment of silence, for all that your yearmates were around you, it seemed as if it was just you under the dark canopy of the sky.

Then the first burst of light flashed in the sky, the first boom sounded, the orchestra crescendoed in accompaniment, and you found yourself thinking of the legend about the first national day firework.

There was a time when one of Singapore’s ministers on an overseas trip would wash his own underwear in the hotel sink to save money. Such was their thriftiness, the story goes, that as the first firework of the National Day Parade sounded, that minister turned to the Prime Minister and whispered,”That was five thousand dollars!”

You'd sat there and tallied the dollar count with each explosion: as gleaming showers followed the shimmering arpeggios of the background music, as fireworks boomed to the beat of ‘Dancing Queen’, as the custom Princeton orange burst into the sky again and again and again. You’d counted all the money the university had let go up in smoke, not carefully measured out to raise the people’s spirits or to boost the nation’s standing, but just because they could.

You remember counting until the smoke from the fireworks blew right into your face. It hurt so badly that you had to shut your watering eyes. But even when you did so, the bursts of the fireworks imprinted themselves against the back of your eyelids. It burnt, but you had felt one with the exploding flames, felt truly alive.

Then the scene changes.

You are back in today’s Singapore, watching the lights from the tourist ferries twinkle on the Singapore River. Behind you, a boom sounds, but it is no ordinary firework. You turn to see the spiked glass facade of the Esplanade cracked open as if it were a real durian, spraying sparking shrapnel as it goes up in flames.

With another boom, the Merlion explodes in a burst of green fire, then the colonial-era columns of the Fullerton Hotel erupts in a shower of red.

You should be horrified, should be busy spearheading the counterattack. But somehow, you just stand there, watching the blaze of the explosions light up the night sky.

“It’s beautiful,” you muse, before the images fade to black and the Mind appears.

“This, general, is my offer,” says the supervillian, spreading his arms wide.

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Singapore Noir competition by Writing the City: 
> 
> "Noir fiction conjures up a mood that’s unmistakeably urban – dark and gritty, with murky undertows of crime and violence. Think James M Cain or Elmore Leonard – the hard-boiled protagonists in their novels are usually conflicted and self-destructive characters who do not always win their battles. But at its best, noir delves deep down into the heart of crime, exposing the decay it spawns on many levels. The effect on both criminal and victim. The reasons for it all.
> 
> How might the noir genre work when transplanted to Singapore’s shiny shores? Writing the City challenges you to pen a short piece of fiction (no more than 650 words) in the noir style. Your setting should be Singapore, but you can write about any time period. Our judge will be looking for entries that are original, well crafted and thought-provoking."
> 
> Thanks to the writer's group at the Princeton Public Library for their constructive comments and clarifying questions.


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